Could it all be a big failed love story? Theory 3
SO, everyone remembers how in TEG George explains how things started between Marissa and Tom, how they used to work together and suddenly broke apart, then Marissa starting her agency and him doing the same a few months later, remember? good, you'll need it. We are never told what happened between Marissa and Tom before the Problem, how they even met each other, or why they separated all of a sudden, but we all know the Problem basically started because of Marissa's curiosity, so hear me out;
ITS STORY TIME!
Marissa and Tom were good friends from childhood who always enjoyed a good ghost story, probably told to them by their grandmamas or grandpapas of when they were little; how they at some point encountered a ghost along their friends and how one of their friends was never seen of again. All this stories make Marissa wonder if there could be something else beyond our living years, or if there is someway that we could stop humans from dying, because, Tom, imagine all the children who wouldn't be orphaned! Wouldn't it be amazing if your parents were here?
Little Tom Rotwell lost his parents as a very young child, and thus when his darling friend Marissa proposes they search for a way to bring them back he says yes, and so they start studying the ways of the death. It takes some time and a lot of unpleasant experiences with terminal-patients in the local hospitals and cemeteries but Marissa finds a bracelet that that holds a ghost in it. And the ghost can talk to her.
This ghost, a dude named Ezekiel, who Tom can actually see
(they never really talk about Tom's Talents, so I'm going to go ahead and say he had sight)
, starts to tell them how to connect with the Other Side, helps them find this "sources" which are apparently the connection ghosts have with this world. Soon enough, Marissa and Tom have enough sources to open a gate to the Realm of the Death and once they follow Ezekiel's instructions to letter about the damn iron chain
(that thing is damn expensive Marissa, how are we supposed to get our hands on even one?!)
and cover themselves with as much silver
(do we look like a mine of precious minerals to Ezekiel?! Where are we going to find enough silver to cover ourselves with?!)
and lavender they enter to the Other Side.
And when they do, its something beyond what they imagined. Tom was scared farther than words could describe but Marissa was so happy; they finally did it!
"We did it Tom! We are on the Other Side, isn't it amazing? Everything we worked so hard for is finally here!"
and seeing her happy made him happy, so he decides it is worth it.
And Tom realizes he has FALLEN IN LOVE with Marissa.
So they keep going to the Other Side to study this ectoplasm thingie ("OH MY LORD, Marissa! Its burning me! The thing is burning me! What the hell is it?!" "Relax, Tommy, its just ectoplasm") that Marissa is so interested about, until people start talking about ghosts appearing in their houses at night. At the beginning it was all like 'I heard some weird things at night, I think it was a ghost' or 'my kids say theres a ghost in the house making weird noises at night, but that's nonsense!' and Ezekiel tells Marissa the reason for all this ghosts appearing is because she and Tom are crossing worlds, and as long as they keep doing it the ghosts will keep appearing. At first the ghosts seem very harmless, but "dear god! the neighbor's daughter was touched by a ghost last night, Issa! she turned blue! she's death right now!" and Tom tries to persuade Marissa that they should stop going to the Other Side, but Marissa insists they should keep going because "I am so close, Tommy, I'm in the verge of a breakthrough! I'm about to discover how to get eternal life!" and she insists that if she finds a way to get eternal life she will find a way to bring his parents back. But Tom is no longer doing this because of his long lost parents, but because he loves her and this makes her happy so he agrees with her. At the beginning they are called mad by the people in town, but when the ghosts thing starts to get on people's nerves they start developing ways of fighting ghosts, of course, guided by dear Ezekiel. They create their first rapiers, lanterns and salt bombs little by little, they start classifying the ghosts and make rules for the hauntings, all the while visiting the world of the death. Things eventually start getting out of hand; the ghosts are spreading even out of town so they had to move to London, where they're clients were better and more generous of pay, Marissa is now obsessed with finding the key to eternal youth and, thanks to Ezekiel's guidance, they know their Talents are not going to last forever and soon they'll have to retire of haunting ghosts, so Tom finally decides it is time to confront Marissa. It was a nasty discussion, but they fell apart in the end, each of them going on their own way. Marissa was intent on not stopping her research, so she started the very first Ghost Hunting Agency as a cover up for her actions. Tom, devastated and heart broken, made his own agency soon afterwards with the intention of stopping Marissa, however, he told not a soul about Marissa's actions, even thought he knew them perfectly. He was still in love with her, and that prevented him from saying it. And just like that, Fittes and Rotwell Agencies were born.
They taught their operatives everything they knew. Their companies grew up quickly and became the most important of London by the time they were both adults. Soon, though, Marissa got married to a man of whom Tom knew nothing of and had a child; a baby girl they named Margaret. This made Tom very sad, because to think all the things he did for her; all the love and support he gave her, all the times he went to the Other Side with her and for her, all the iron and silver they once had to steal together for her crazy "door" idea. So he tried to forget about her: married another woman, had a child with her, occupy his time with working as much as he could, but nothing made him happy anymore. He fell into depression that, combined with the effects of his travels to the Other Side (advancing into old age at a young age), he was eventually bed-ridden, and died soon after. The rest of the story in which Marissa finds the key to "immortality", kills her daughter and granddaughter to be able to take over her body and live a life as Penelope Fittes is all explained in TEG
